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OK, I've tried the search function and not found the answer to this particular quandary.

There are two combats in the assault phase, 'Combat A' and 'Combat B'.

Player 1 wins 'Combat A' and following a massacre has the ability to reach player 2's combatants in 'Combat B'.

Now obviously the survivors from 'Combat A' can't fight.

However Player 2 gets a Massacre for 'Combat B',

So is he able to make a D6 move (he wiped out the opposition) and hightail it away from the survivors of 'Combat A'

or

Is he then locked into combat as the survivors from 'Combat A' reached him first?

This is causing some of us some debate, and I can't find an answer in the BGB.

This situation is one of the most poorly worded rules in the rulebook (seriously) and is found on page 44:

"Is several close combats are being fought in close proximity, a unit which consolidates into a new close combat does not count as engaged until the next Assault phase and is effectively ignored. All the combats are assumed to be simultaneous."


So the problem with this rule is that units aren't "engaged", models in units are. Units are "locked".


That leaves a few ways to play this:


A) The consolidating models don't count as being engaged (and therefore don't fight in the combat they consolidated into) but they do count as being locked in that combat and therefore get a chance to make a sweeping advance if their side is victorious or have to take a morale check and potentially fall back if their side loses. Since they are locked they prevent enemy models in that combat from consolidating or making a sweeping advance and the enemy would have to pile-into them if neither side fell back from the combat. In the opponent's next movement phase enemy units locked in combat with the unit that consolidated into combat would obviously be unable to move (as they are locked).


B) Assume that GW screwed up the wording of that rule and meant to say that the unit does not count as being LOCKED until the next assault phase. In which case: The consolidating unit takes no part in the combat they consolidate into which means that they are unable to make a sweeping advance if their side is victorious and do not have to take a morale check or fall back if their side loses. Also, since they are not locked in combat they do not prevent enemy units from making sweeping advances against other friendly units. If the combat is a draw, enemy models are not allowed to pile-in against the unit that consolidated into combat (as they are not locked into combat together) and in fact, even if enemy models are in base contact with some of the consolidated models, they would still have to 'pile-in' away from the consolidated unit's models into models they are currently locked with. Since the unit does not count as being locked until the next assault phase that means in the opponent's following movement phase he is free to move his unit away from the unit that consolidated into combat.


C) Play the 'easiest way' (IMHO) and the way we ruled in the INAT FAQ: Play that the consolidating unit does not count as being LOCKED into combat until the end of the assault phase. That means they take no part in the new combat, including not being able to sweeping advance if their side wins and not having to take morale checks and not having to fall back if their side loses. They also don't prevent victorious enemy models from consolidating away from them (should the enemy win) and enemy models are not compelled to 'pile-in' against the models that consolidated into them (and in fact they will plie-in away from them if they are not also in base contact with an enemy from another unit). However, the big change with this version is that at the end of the phase if enemy models are still in based contact at the end of the assault phase (after making any pile-in or consolidation moves) then they *will* count as being locked at that point preventing the enemy from moving away in their subsequent movement phase.



In short, there is no real way to play the RAW on this situation without a pretty silly (and still disputable) outcome.

Also Of note:

"The [consolidation] move may be used to contact enemy units and lock them in combat, but the consolidating unit must maintain unit coherency and does not countas charging when combat is worked out next turn (44)."

Taking that and yak's quote together seems to indicate that the unit is locked but the models aren't engaged untill next turn and so can't take part in a combat that i resolved after they consolidated.